Afghan governor survives assassination attempt

Asadabad: The governor of a
restive province in north-eastern Afghanistan said he survived
a "fierce" attack today on the convoy he was travelling in.

Fazlullah Wahedi, governor of Kunar province on the
border with Pakistan, said the attackers launched a
rocket-propelled grenade at his car, in the latest in a string
of militant attacks targeting government officials.

No one was hurt in the incident on the road from the
provincial capital Asadabad to a neighbouring district.
The Taliban claimed responsibility.

"It was a fierce attack. One rocket landed very close
to my vehicle, but no one was hurt," Wahedi told AFP.

Kunar has witnessed an increase in violence in recent
months and a spate of civilian casualties in NATO operations
there has angered local people.

NATO is investigating claims by local officials that
two children died in an air strike by foreign forces earlier
this week.

The incident took place close to where nine other
people, who local officials said were children collecting
firewood, were killed in an earlier NATO raid.

A spokesman for the Taliban told AFP it was
responsible for today`s attack, which came just weeks after
gunmen shot dead a district governor in eastern Afghanistan.

Ousted from power in late 2001 in a US-led invasion,
the Taliban lately have ramped up an assassination campaign
against officials, their relatives or anyone linked to the
Western-backed government.